Reluctant Passenger
by giftedgirl10592
Summary: Tricked into joining the voyage by her best friend Ann Darrow, Jessica Summer goes through the trials of the voyage in her own way. But unintentionally, she falls in love. The question is:does he love her back?OCxPreston on hiatus until my comp is fixed
1. Chapter 1

I ran into my apartment, my face flushed with excitement, and slammed the door behind me. I grabbed my suitcases from underneath my bed and in my closet and immediately started throwing my clothes and belongings in them.

I was so excited because I had just been offered a job that would mean me performing in London, and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity for the world. Tonight I leave on a boat for England, and I had to pack, say, and rent out my apartment before then.

A quick loud knock came on the door.

"Come in!" I shouted as I threw in some books in a suitcase.

The door opened and slammed shut behind my best friend since we were little kids, Ann Darrow. She has always been like the sister I never had, and it was going to be so difficult for me to leave her.

"What on earth are you packing for?" Ann asked as soon as the door was closed.

"Oh Ann it's wonderful! I've been given a job to perform at a club in London! I leave tonight!"

"What!" Ann exclaimed. "You can't leave tonight! I'm leaving tonight!"

I turned around to face Ann.

"What do you mean you're leaving tonight? "For where?"

"Not sure," Ann said shrugging. "I'm going to be starring in a new film, and it's going to be filmed on a ship! I had really hoped you would join me."

"Oh Ann," I said putting my hands on her shoulders, "I'm so sorry, but I need this job to pay for food. Times are hard nowadays, and you of all people should understand. It's great that you get to star in a film. I know that's what you've always wanted, and now I am getting my opportunity to shine."

Ann looked at me with her puppy eyes.

"Please?" she begged.

"I'm sorry Ann."

Ann stood there for a second, and then she asked, "What time do you leave?"

"I have to be on the ship by nine. Why?"

"Well," Ann said, "you can at least come with me to get unsettled on the boat, and still make your voyage."

"Alright." I agreed. "Just so long as you some to my last performance at three."

Ann nodded and then walked out of the apartment.

I finished packing all of my stuff, and then went to bed excited about going to live in London.

Ann led me onto the ship she would be on for the film and showed me her room. It was a nice room, but the hallway outside is pretty cramped.

We talked about stuff as she unpacked, and then looking at my wrist watch, I said, "I need to go Ann. I don't want to miss my ship."

I hugged Ann and went up to the upper deck with my suitcases in my hand. Just as I reached the outside, I heard a sound that made my stomach lurch. A whistle sounded, and I saw the gang plank be put on the ship as the ship pulled out of harbor.

"No! Wait!" I shouted as I ran to the gang plank, but it was too late. The ship was already to far away from the pier to even attempt a jump.

I turned around with my suitcases still in hand and saw Ann looking at me with a sly smile on her face.

"How could you Ann?" I asked accusingly. "This was my chance to earn a good living."

"I need you here with me Jessica, and I promise that once this movie is produced I'll support us both. Just like we said we would when were kids."

"When we were kids Ann. Now I have to keep my own way, and this not a good start."

Ann gave me a sorry look.

"Well, it's too late now." Ann said. "You might as well go put your stuff in my room."

"I guess you're right." I said giving up. There was nothing I could do now, and all that was left was to go put up my stuff in wherever I was going to stay on this voyage.

"Where am I going to stay?" I asked.

"In my room," Ann said, "There's an extra bed in there. You can sleep on that."

"Ok." I said as I followed Ann back down the cramped hallway and into our room. I placed my suitcases underneath the extra bed that was going to be my new home for a while.

"Carl Denham," Ann said, "that's the director, said that I might as well go to bed as soon as I got on the ship and had made myself comfy, so I suggest that we do so, for Carl said that we were to get started on production tomorrow."

I nodded my head in agreement and got out my blue silk nightgown and put it on silently.

"What are you going to tell the others on the hip when you show up with another passenger?" I asked. "And no way am I going to stay hidden in here."

"Don't worry Jessica." Ann assured me. "Carl said I was allowed to bring a friend with me."

I got into the bed and as soon as I closed my eyes I was out.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I woke up and saw Ann up and changing into a real pretty dress.

"Morning sleepy-head," Ann greeted me. "I was just about to wake you up. I'm supposed to go down below and meet the rest of the crew."

"And what, you need me for moral support?" I asked as I pulled out a red dress and changed into it.

"Nice dress." I commented. "Where did you get it?"

"Oh, well, just between you and me," Ann whispered, "it belonged to the girl who was originally supposed to be starring in this movie."

"Oh." I said as I combed my hair out and put it up in a tight bun.

"Ready?" Ann asked.

"I guess." I replied.

Ann walked out into the hallway and followed her down a set of stairs and into a small room full of working men.

"Good morning Ann," a sort of pudgy short guy said to Ann. "

"Good morning friend." he addressed to me.

I looked at Ann and she smiled at me to keep my spirits up. I didn't like this guy already.

"Alrighty, let's meet the crew…" the pudgy guy said.

He went through a bunch of names and pointed at each individual person.

"Not a whole lot of people working on this thing are there?" I whispered into Ann's ear.

"Shhh." She shushed me.

I then heard Ann talking to a guy with a hat on and glasses. She acted as if she knew him, and she kept on addressing him as Mr. Driscoll. I looked behind her and saw a scrawny tall guy with black hair and five o'clock shadow standing behind her.

"Uhh Ann?" I said, but she paid no attention.

"Ann?" Carl said interrupting her, "This is Mr. Driscoll."

Ann slowly turned around and turned a bright red.

"And this is Jessica." Ann pointed at me obviously trying to get the embarrassing moment off of her. I gave a little wave.

"Ann," Carl said, "why don't you and your friend go back to the room. We'll send you some breakfast up, and then afterward you might as well start getting ready because around noon we are going to shoot the first scene."

I was out before he even finished his sentence.

"Sorry about that." Ann said to the men in the room. "She just gets a little nervous unless she is in front of people she knows she'll never see again."

And Ann followed.

At noon, Ann promptly went up stairs to the upper deck to shoot the first scene, and she asked for me to join. I told her to go ahead, and I would be up as soon as possible.

Now, I was pondering on whether I should go up or not. I knew that Ann wanted me to watch, but I would probably get in the way.

Finally after seconds thought, I grabbed my fur lined coat and went to the upper deck and to the bow of the ship where I heard a large crowd talking and saw a large group of men each doing something that had to do with some form of filming equipment. Some of the men I recognized from the room earlier such as the camera man who I think was called Mike or something similar, and I saw standing next to Carl the guy called Preston.

I walked up next to Preston and stood silently watching as Ann got up next to the rail with another guy who was actually pretty handsome. Ann looked great just as she usually did, and she waved to me when she saw me. I waved back and hit the guy Preston in the arm.

"Sorry." I said.

"It's alright." he replied.

"I don't think I caught your name." I said to him. He turned slowly as if wondering whether I was talking to him or not.

"I-I'm Preston." he answered softly. "I'm Carl's personal assistant.

I smiled at him politely. He was kind of cute in a nerdy hot way. His glasses made him look really smart and his wavy hair looked good with his facial profile.

"QUIET ON THE SET!" I heard Carl shout from next to Preston. The voices stopped buzzing and I could hear a camera rolling.

"ACTION!"

The two people at the railing started talking, but I wasn't paying much to the dialogue they were sharing. I was watching the sea and the blue waves as one rolled after another. It was beautiful to look at and I couldn't seem to myself away from the view.

The scene ended and Ann made her way over to me.

"So how did I do?" Ann asked as she pulled me over to the railing.

I didn't quite seem to hear her. The sea seemed to be singing a lullaby that was putting me to sleep. Or maybe I was being delusional.

"Jessica?" I heard Ann's voice calling to me. Each time I heard her calling me, her voice seemed to be farther and farther off until suddenly, her voice became clear and I was called out of my trance.

"Jessica?" Ann said sounding clearly worried.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"I thought you were gone or something," she said putting a hand on my shoulder. "I asked how you thought it went?"

"It looked great." I replied. "Can't wait to see it on the big screen."

"Oh, won't that be exciting?"

"Yeah." I replied not even sure what I was saying.

"Great job Ann." Came a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Carl standing there with Preston at his side.

"Thanks Carl." Ann said.

"And excuse me," Carl said looking at me, "but I don't I believe caught your name."

"Jessica Davison." I said.

"Carl Denham." he said shaking my hand. "You're a privileged young woman Ms. Davison. You get to see this spectacular film filmed first hand."

"Great." I said with phony enthusiasm. "Ann I'm going back to the room. I have some things that I can get to work on now that I have all this free time."

"Ok. I'll come down with you, I need to put something warm on. It's getting chilly up here."

I walked down with her and half listened to the details of the scene she had just acted out with some actor called Bruce Baxter. _Now where had I heard that name before._ But my mind was on other things.

When I was looking out at the ocean, I had this weird feeling that danger was approaching. It was far off, but it felt like we were very slowly approaching it.

Finally when we reached the room I collapsed on the bed and got out my notebook and ink pen that I had gotten in New York before I left. While I started writing, Ann was behind a screen changing.

"What do you think of this?" Ann asked stepping out from behind the screen. She was wearing a green gown with a fur coat over it.

"Are you doing another scene?"

"Yeah. I have to do a scene where I play hard to get. Really weird since that Mr. Baxter is really...well... weird."

I chuckled. "So now you're realizing that show business is not all what you thought it was?"

"Well, it's now what I imagined, but it's a lot of fun. Really."

"Whatever. You better get up there before what's-his-name comes down here looking for you."

"Alright, I'll come back down when I'm finished. What are you going to be writing anyways?"

"I'm going to be working on some songs."

"Ohhh, you'll sing them for me won't you?"

"Of course. You had better go."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye."

Finally, I had the room to myself. I work under these kind of circumstances when I'm writing songs. My songs are some of my most prized possessions. I scattered the papers around me on the bed, and picked one of the many sheets of paper and started to write. As I wrote, I sang the words and the tune that they fit to. I wasn't much of a songwriter, but I had my good ones.

After twenty minutes I had completed the one I worked the most on. I picked it up and started to sing to it to check my work, unaware of the fact that the door had been left wide open.


	3. Chapter 3

Outside, Preston had been sent downstairs to get something for Carl, and walked by the room that Ms. Darrow and her friend slept in, and when he passed, he noticed that the door was open.

He ventured a peek from the door and saw that on one of the beds, the young woman that had talked to him earlier was sitting down, with a piece of paper in her hand, and she was singing.

Her voice was very pretty, ranging from an alto to a soprano, making the song a variation of lovely sounds. He didn't realize that he was standing in a spot that she could see him.

I stopped singing to fix a note and looked up and saw standing outside the door, was the man I had talked to earlier and had called himself Preston.

He jumped realizing he had been seen and quickly ran off. I jumped to the door and watched as he turned a corner, and was gone.

_I wonder why he is so shy? _I asked myself. _He really is handsome._

And then a strong wind came from the porthole I had opened so that it would be cool in here, and the sheet of paper in my hand flew out of the porthole.

"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. It was probably long gone by now. "And that was the one I worked on the most on. It was my favorite."

I sat in my room and cried.

Preston had gone directly up to the upper deck, and given Carl what he had asked for. When he turned around, a piece of paper flew in front of him, and he grabbed it.

On the paper, he read words, and at the bottom he read in small print: Written by Jessica Davison.

He folded it carefully and put it in his pocket, intending to return the paper to its rightful owner.

After a few moments of self-pity, I got out a blank piece of and attempted to rewrite my song, but it was no use. The tune remained in my head, but the words had escaped me.

An hour later, Ann ran into the room, and she collapsed on her bed.

"Oh that was fun!" she said. She sat up and looked at me and her smile dropped to a look of concern.

"Jessica!" she cried coming over to me. "You've been crying! What's wrong?"

"I-I lost one of my songs." I said quietly.

"Oh no! And you work so hard on those! Which one? Oh, please don't tell me it was that lovely one you were writing. The one that was titled, 'A Lovely Night'?"

"Yeah. That's the one." I said even quieter. An arm went around my shoulder, and squeezed.

"I'm sorry Jessica." Ann said to me. "I really an truly am sorry. I know how hard you worked on that one.

"I don't mean to change the subject, but Carl is having this dinner type thing tonight, and he wants all of the people working on the film there, and you."

"Me?" I asked unbelievingly. "Why would he want me there?"

"He said that you could keep me company while the men talk about the boring stuff."

"It sounds to me like this whole thing is going to be boring. What should I wear?"

"Well, I'm going to wear one of my old dresses."

"Good, I don't think I could make through a night in an evening dress."

Ann laughed. "Neither could I."


	4. Chapter 4

When we were both changed, we went upstairs and walked to the stern of the boat where a large group of men stood mingling.

"So there are more people than I thought on this voyage." I whispered. "But, if I may ask, are they all working on the movie?"

"Yep." Ann said. "They all have some form of work to do that has to do with this movie. I want you to meet the man that I am co-working with."

I followed her as she made her way to a small cluster of men that were standing close to the railing.

"See the one with the safari outfit?" she whispered. "That's Bruce Baxter."

"Now I know where I've heard his name before."

"Where?" Ann asked.

"He starred in one of my Pa's movies." I said.

"Oh." Ann said. "Which one?"

"I'm not sure but-"

"Good-evening Ms. Darrow." a voice behind us said.

We turned around simultaneously and saw Mr. Driscoll standing behind us.

"Good-evening Mr. Driscoll." Ann replied.

"And good-evening to you Ms. Davison." he greeted me. I looked at them both out of the corners' of my eyes and realized something.

"Ann," I said turning to her, "I need to use the restroom. Just talk with Mr. Driscoll till I get back."

Ann nodded and I turned around and walked in the direction of the restroom.

On my way, I saw Preston walking up the stairs, and as soon as he saw me, he turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction. I ran after him and down the stairs and said, "Wait! Mr. Preston wait!"

He stopped and turned around to look at me. His head was drooped down as if he were embarrassed about something.

"Y-yes?" he said shyly.

"I just wanted to ask-" I started, but didn't get the chance to say anything in reply.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping Ms. Davison. I promise it won't happen again. I just happened to be walking by and I heard the singing, and I stopped to listen to it."

I smiled kindly at him and giggled.

"I don't mind you listening, in fact, I wanted to get your opinion on the song. How did you think of it?"

Preston looked rather surprised.

"I-I thought it was very nice Ms. Davison. You have a lovely voice."

I blushed at the compliment.

"Please don't call me Ms. Davison, Mr. Preston. Just Jessica will do fine."

"All right, but only if you call me P-Preston."

"Sure, um now if you'll excuse me, I need to go use the restroom."

Preston nodded and I slid past him and went into the restroom, closing the door slow enough that I got to watch him go back up the stairs with a smile on my face.


	5. Chapter 5

When I got back up to the deck, I saw Ann talking with Mr. Driscoll, Mr. Denham, and Preston. I walked up and stood in between Ann and Mr. Denham.

The moment I walked up the others seemed to get quiet. I looked around at the group and wondered if they were just talking about me.

"What?" I asked. "Should I come back later so that you can finish your discussion?"

"No Jessica," Ann said putting a hand on my arm. "Mr. Denham was just asking me if you were any relation to the famous director Charles Denham."

"I am." I said turning to Mr. Denham. "What of it?"

"I was just curious." he replied. "I have watched many of his films, and his filming style is my inspiration. He does an excellent job."

"_Did_ an excellent job, you mean." I said starting to get a little steamed. I knew this act quite well. It's the don't-talk-about-her-father-like-he-got-fired-just-to-be-polite-even-though-we-all-know-that-he-is-no-longer-directing-anymore. "You think I'm ashamed of my father, Mr. Denham? Whatever those critics did to make him lose his job just makes them jerks, and I know what people say about my father behind his back so you don't have to try to talk about him to my face as if he still directs just to make me feel better."

My father was one of the best directors there ever was, but after screwing up on a film that he had spent a good deal of his own personal money on, he lost it all. And I was sent to work, first as a prop keeper, working my way up until I got into the stage show biz.

"My father worked hard on all of his films Mr. Denham, and no matter what the other directors say about him, he is still one of the best directors there ever is."

I turned on my heel and walked down the stairs and into the cabin, closing the door with a slam.


	6. Chapter 6

The next couple of days went by without much happening other than the fact that Ann and Mr. Driscoll were obviously madly in love with each other.

Then, five days after the little outburst I had, I was asleep in my bed, when I suddenly woke up, and had to use the restroom. When I came out after using it, I heard voices coming from above us.

I walked out onto the deck and heard the voices grow louder and realized that the voices were coming from above me.

"Island…creature…neither man nor beast." were the words I heard. The voice sounded like it belonged to Lumpy the cook.

_We're going to an island? _I thought.

"Sorry gentlemen," I heard Carl's voice clearly, "but we're not interested in fairy tales."

Then I heard footsteps walking down the steps from the captains lookout to the deck and I quickly ran back to the room and closed the door behind me.


	7. Chapter 7

In the morning, Ann woke me up and we both got dressed. As we dressed, I told her what I overheard the following night.

"We're going to Singapore, Jessica." Ann said.

"But last night I heard them talking about an island!" I told her.

"Maybe they were discussing an island just to keep conversation going or something." Ann said.

I shook my head and decided to quit on the subject, but kept it in my head to ask Mr. Denham about later.

When we were both dressed, we went up to enjoy a little bit of the sunshine, and sat on a metal crate and talked for a good half hour until Carl came up and asked for Ann to get ready for yet another scene.

"Go on." I said leaning back on the crate, "I need some time to think."

Ann smiled and ran down to change. I sat there basking in the sun, and thought about what I had heard the night before. _Why would we be told that we are going Singapore, and then they're talking about going to some island, and a beast? It doesn't make sense._


	8. Chapter 8

That night, I couldn't get to sleep, so I walked up on deck with a robe on and walked to the bow of the ship. To my surprise, I saw Preston sitting on a crate with his back to me. I walked up and took a seat next to him, catching him by surprise.

"I didn't s-see you there." he said. He made room and I took a seat next to him.

"I didn't mean to surprise you. I hope you don't mind the company." I said.

"Not at all." he said. I looked down and saw that he had papers in his lap.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Just papers for Carl." He replied. Then, as if remembering something, he dug a folded up piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to me.

"It floated in front of me one day, and I meant to get it back to as soon as possible."

I opened it and to my great joy and surprise saw that it was my song that had been carried out of the window.

"Thank you." I said looking up at him and smiling. He smiled back at me. Then he realized that he was staring and shifted his gaze back on the papers.

"It, um, looks good. Is that the one that I heard you…"

"Yes." I said. "I can't thank you enough for returning this to me. Between you and me it's my favorite song."

My hand went on the crate, and suddenly his was on top of mine. He jumped and pulled his hand back.

"S-sorry." He said. In the moonlight, I could see that he was turning red.

"It's ok." I said. My face was turning red too, I could feel it.

"Um, I had better get back to my cabin. I just needed a bit of fresh air." I said getting up. Preston jumped up and said, "yeah, Carl will probably need me for something soon-I mean…"

"Good-night Preston." I said before he could feel even more embarrassed. I walked away and heard him say softly, "Good-night Jessica."


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of the week went by without much happenening for me. Ann and I had had fun the night after my encounter with Preston for the crew was getting a little bored, so Ann and I got to share some of our old routines, and we learned new steps. I think the men had the most fun watching us do the _Shipoopi_ dance, and I had fun with it too because, in the best part of it, I got to twirl men who didn't know how to dance, including Preston, and the cook Lumpy who both nearly stomped my feet off.

Then, at the end of the week, I was finished with my shower and put on my robe, and walked into the hallway and ran into Preston. It was a tight squeeze, and little uncomfortable, but when we had passed, he said to me, "I hope your feet are alright."

I laughed and said, "My feet are fine thanks."

"You dance really well." he commented.

"Thanks." I said. I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks. "I love to dance. My Pa taught me how to when I was four. That was, I guess, how I got started in it."

I could see out of the corner of my eye that he took a step toward me. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

I smiled and looked up at him. He was smiling down at me.

"I don't mean to be embarrassed."

"I'm sure you don't." he said. I could tell that he was a little embarrassed with what he was saying, but he was taking a lot of effort to get something off his chest.

"Jessica." he said.

"Yes?" I replied. My mind was soaring. For the first time, the thought that I might be in love with Preston crossed my mind. But the question was: did he love me back?

"I want to tell you-"

But before he could say anything, a force hitting the ship sent me flying, luckily, into his arms.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I'll go find out." he said. I got up and he ran back to the deck as I ran into the room to change into something easy. After I was dressed, I ran up onto the deck and saw crew members scrambling. I ran up to a little observation deck and saw Preston standing there, and Carl was only a few feet in front of him.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A w-wall of some kind." Preston replied. His voice sounded frightened.

"A wall?" I said unbelieving. "Out in the middle of the ocean?"

But then the ship jerked backward forcing me and Preston against the railing behind us. Then, the last thing I hit my head against something hard, and everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10

Jessica collapsed after hitting her head against a rock behind Preston and her. Preston picked her up and held her by the waist as he held on to the railing with his other hand. Finally the ship stopped moving and it was up against a weird rock that jutted out of the water.

"Well," Carl said from in front of him, "there's something you don't experience everyday."

Preston was about to say something, but a moan from the girl in his arms stopped him.


	11. Chapter 11

You followed Pyro into the main room that you were in earlier and saw the guy in the brown coat sitting at the table playing a game of solitaire with Colossus sitting next to him watching with fascination. You went over to the table to get your backpack from the other end of the table. Picking it up, you felt that it was lighter than when you had last carried it.

"Whatever you took out," you say turning to Brown Coat, "give it back now!"

"I didn't take anything," Brown Coat said in a phony innocent voice. Your eyes showed a red light filling his body as he told you the lie.

"You're lying," you say stepping around the table toward him.

"No I'm not," he said as another red light filled his body.

"Listen, I can either make you give it to me, (which will probably be very painful), or you can give it to me without any trouble."

Brown Coat looked at you with a scowl. It looked to be more from embarrassment than anger. He pulled out your Calculus book from a pocket on the inside of his long coat.

You sent it flying into your hand and shoved it into your backpack. Now when you put it over your shoulder, it felt just the right weight.

"Just for future reference," you say to Brown Coat without actually looking at him, "I can tell when someone is lying or not. If a person is lying, then their body fills with a red light. If the person isn't lying, then a green light fills their body, but I learned the signs of when someone is lying when I was five. You're really good though. I actually had to use my powers to see that you were lying."

Gambit just went back to his solitaire game without acknowledging that you said anything.

"So what is his gift?" you ask Colossus who was now looking at you with a look of confusion on his face. "What?"

"I was just thinking," Colossus said in his Russian accent. "When we first met you three years ago, you could control water and fly. Then, when we met you at that school, you could control the earth- 

"And water, and air," Pyro interrupted Colossus.

"And just now," Colossus interrupted Pyro in return, "you made the book float into your hand, and you just admitted that you can tell when people lie to you."

"So?" you ask wondering what was so confusing about that.

"I'm afraid I didn't exactly tell you what Ms. Summers power is, did I?" Magneto said walking over to where you three were.

Brown Coat looked up at Magneto and nodded along with Pyro and Colossus.

You look up at Magneto as he put a firm hand on your shoulder.

"Ms. Summers here has every power any mutant ever had or will have."

"All except for two," you correct Magneto shrugging his hand away. "I won't be able to teleport or self heal."

"Yes. All except for those two, but your other powers will make up for those."

"Oh yeah," you say taking a seat at the other end of the table.   
"It doesn't matter if I accidentally break something, and I won't be able to heal it. Yeah my powers sure are going to make up for that."

Magneto didn't seem to hear and just went on ordering the guys to do certain things, but then you heard a command that made you sigh with relief.

"Gambit, take Julie home."

But then you realized you didn't know that one of them was called Gambit, but you soon found out that Gambit was Brown Coat.

"Oh great," you mutter under your breath.

"C'mon." Gambit said walking to the garage.

Same routine as you did with Colossus, you soon found yourself whizzing on the back of the motorcycle with your arms wrapped around Gambits waist.

Gambit stopped at the curb on a street three blocks away from the Brotherhood House. You got off and took the helmet off.

"So," Gambit said taking off his own helmet. "Having fun livin' with those losers?"

"I've only spent one night there. Give me another day or two, and I'll tell you."

Gambit smiled at you mischievously and said, "Goodnight cherie. Pleasant dreams."

The bike whizzed off sending a cloud of smoke flying into your face.

"I'll get him for that," you think to yourself. You could tell that even though you were being black-mailed to work for Magneto, you were going to have some fun along the way.


	12. Chapter 12

We were on the boat, and I felt queasy the whole time, and I sat next to Mr. Baxter. As the wall came closer, I felt even more queasy because I couldn't even imagine what it was built to keep in. Preston sat in front of me, facing me, and I gave him a weak smile. The look he gave back made me feel better.

When we finally reached the shore, Mr. Baxter helped me out and I followed him in the line of people. We went across a bridge, and through caverns, until the group reached what looked a village.

As we walked through these places, Carl would stop and film them for minutes at a time. Then, as he stopped to film the village, I heard Preston say, "It's deserted."

Carl was saying something, but I was walking through a row of houses.

A cry echoed throughout village. It sounded like one of a little girl. I turned to get back to the group, but when I turned around, I came face to face with a dark skinned man with many piercings in his nose. I tried to scream, but a gag was put in my mouth before I could cry out. My hands and ankles were tied up and I was carried silently through the village.

Then, I heard a scream that could only have come from Ann. After the scream, the roar of something that sounded monstrous came from behind the wall. I attempted to cry out, but I was then thrown on the ground in front of the group, and saw the sound man, lying dead in front of me.

Suddenly, feet were running, most of them bare, and I heard yells and screams. I watched from where I lay and watched, helpless as a man was beaten to death. Then, I watched as Carl was brought to a rock, and was about to be beaten to death too, when a shot that only a gun could fire rang out. The bare feet were running away and I was soon freed of my bonds. I gasped a breath as my gag was taken away.

"Jessica!" Ann shouted as she ran to my side. She helped me up until I was standing.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I-I'm fine." I said. "How about you? What was that noise that I heard after you screamed?"

"I-I don't know." Ann said. Her face looked dumbfounded and she looked like she was about to cry.

"Come on!" someone shouted. "We're getting out of here!"

I helped Ann to the boat and we sat next to each other silently as the boat was pulled out and away from the island.


	13. Chapter 13

I stood across the cabin from Ann. We stood silently contemplating what happened on the island. The sounds of feet slamming stuff up on deck could be heard from down here, and we both stood silently ignoring the sounds.

A sound came from across the room and when I turned around to see if it was Ann, she was gone. Then, before I could move again, a pair of arms grabbed me and dragged me out of the cabin, out into the hallway, and finally the pair of arms pulled me overboard into the cold fierce waters below.


	14. Chapter 14

Jack Driscoll ran upstairs frantic, shouting how Ann was gone. Preston, who was sitting inside Carl's cabin, heard Jack, and ran out into the rain. He grabbed Jack by the collar and shouted, "What about Jessica!"

"She's gone too." Jack said.

Preston let go and turned around to face Carl.

"Get the equipment and let's go." Carl said striding out of the room. Preston watched with a cold face and after Carl was gone, got the equipment.


	15. Chapter 15

Sopping wet, shivering, and captured, Ann and I were drug through the village until we were brought to the middle of the village. Lights were lit everywhere and the people surrounding us were doing some weird chant. A necklace was forced around my neck and I was pulled to a giant gate and through it until I saw a giant chasm in front of me. A bridge was lowered and on the other end was Ann hanging by two ropes around her wrists.

A rod prodded my back and the guy holding it seemed to be motioning for me to walk forward. I took a wobbly step forward onto what looked like a rung, like one on a ladder. Then, I stopped in the middle my mouth gaping open in horror as I saw a giant ape grab Ann and after a few moments, carry it off into the forest on the other side of the chasm. I heard gunshots in the distance, but I was to awestruck by what I had just seen that I nearly fainted (which would not have been a good thing since the rungs left gaps in the bridge big enough that if I fell, I fell the whole way).

Turning around, I saw that no one else was visible and I slowly, walked back toward the side of the bridge that I came from.

When I got through the gate, I saw what looked to be like almost the whole crew and each holding a gun, and a few feet in front of me with his back to me was Carl Denham. Of course, my mind was a blur because I was not taking in fully what I had just seen. What had I just seen? I didn't really see a 20 foot gorilla take Ann. That's impossible. This is all just a terrible nightmare, and I am going to wake up any second now back in my bed in New York.

"Native!" I heard someone shout and a gunshot went and I coud feel the bullet pass right by my ear. I screamed and threw my tied together arms in front of me.

"Don't shoot!" I shouted. No more gunshots.

A pair of hands were untying the ropes that bound my wrists together and as soon as they were free I saw that it was Mr. Hayes that was untying my wrists.

"Thank you Mr. Hayes." I said rather weakly. My strength had left me, and I felt on the verge of collapsing.

"Are you all right Ms. Davison?" he asked. His hands were on my shoulders steadying me.

"I just saw one of the most unbelievable, frightening things in the history of time, and I feel like I am about to vomit. No, Mr. Hayes. I am not alright. My best friend was just taken by what looked to be a 20 foot GORILLA!"

He helped me over to a rock and set me down there. I put my head in my hands and cried silently over my friend. Would she be all right? What would that ferocious ape do to her?

"Jessica?" a voice said as someone sat down next to me. I turned my head and saw Preston sitting there.

"I'm scared Preston." I whispered. And I really was. This island was nothing but trouble, and I will not leave without Ann, but also, if that ape is on this island…what else is there?

He puts an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head against him. I knew that he was a friend that was being there for me and it was just what I needed.

"Thank you Preston." I said.


	16. Chapter 16

A half hour later, I was walking in the long line of men, a rifle in my hand and bag over my shoulder with ammunition and food that had been given to me by one of the crew members. At first, I was going to without the rifle, but after I convinced the men that I was fully aware of how to operate a rifle, (my father had taken me on several of his hunting trips when I was little), they let me take one.

I walked behind Mr. Hayes and looked around me in awe at the green and the large bugs that seemed to be everywhere. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

"This is…it's incredible," I said looking at a tree that had to be over 150 feet high.

"It's unbelievable," Mr. Hayes said as he helped me over a large tree trunk that had fallen over. "These trees must have been here for ages."

"And these bugs too," I said swatting what looked to be like a mosquito that was three times its regular size. "They're huge!"

We walked a little more before Mr. Driscoll shouted to us to hurry. When we reached him, we found him standing on top of a large pile of bones. I had to look away it was so disgusting.

"Oh my God," I said feeling a little nauseous. Then, I saw Carl looking at a tree that looked like it had been ripped in half. The trunk was so thick it would probably have taken ten men holding hands to have gone around it.

A few minutes later, we were on the move again, walking further and further into the mess of a jungle that was home to an extremely large ape.


	17. Chapter 17

We finally got to rest after walking for three straight hours. My legs were so stiff I couldn't sit down.

As I drank some water from my canteen I looked around and saw that we were in a sort of canyon that looked like it had once contained buildings of some sort. The ground looked like it could've once been a road, but had eroded after years without use.

"Bloody Nora," I heard Lumpy say over a few feet from me. I walked over to see what he was amazed about, and when I saw the enormous hand print, I wasn't amazed that that ape had made it. Instead, I almost laughed when Lumpy said that it was abominable snow man that had made the print.

As I stood there, I noticed something a few seconds before everyone else did…Carl, Mike, and Bruce were all gone. Probably off filming since he had the audacity to bring his filming equipment along.

Just as the others started to notice that the three were gone, Bruce came speed walking toward us and said something about Carl filming, then he was off running away from us. The ground started to shake and rocks from the sides of the canyon fell on us.

"What the…" I started to say when a large clump almost landed on my head.

A few moments later I heard Jack shout, "RUN!"

I looked up and saw what looked to be like a stampede of…dinosaurs? They were running full on toward us and there was no way that we could get out of their way since they filled the canyon.

I broke out in a full run and ran until a giant leg landed in front of me and I had to dodge the legs and watch where I was going so I couldn't be squashed. I ran past a few people, I have been running fields most of my life so I was used to running long distances.

I ran across a cliff and followed Bruce as he ran, then he suddenly turned around and started shooting. I decided that the best thing to do was to keep running, but something tripped me and I rolled down a slight incline scraping my arms and legs.

I got up and continued to run, now behind Jimmy and Mr. Hayes. Mr. Hayes helped me up a steep cliff that lead up another canyon. After I was up, I kept running until I finally reached a place where the others had stopped.


	18. Chapter 18

When I had gathered my breath, I looked down and saw cuts along my arms and legs that were bleeding pretty bad.

"Great," I said taking off my robe. I ripped it to shreds and started tying the around the wounds. The blood bled through, but it would have to do for now.

When I rejoined the main group, I caught the tail-end of what looked like to be a major scuttle and saw Bruce along with a couple others walking away. How could they be leaving? When Ann needed all the help she could get?

"Let's get a move on," Jack said starting to walk in the opposite direction that Bruce and the others went. The rest of us followed suit and started another long trek through the island.


	19. Chapter 19

Another hour later we arrived at another deeper canyon seemed to have no way across except an exceedingly large fallen tree. I am told to go last so that in case something happens I could get off before anything serious happened. Being behind Preston, I climbed carefully over the wood getting a few splinters in my feet.

But then, we were told to stop. I stood behind Preston waiting for some sort of command, but what I heard next was the farthest thing from that. It was a terrible roar coming from the cave that Mr. Hayes was standing right in the mouth of.

Next thing I knew Mr. Hayes was in the hands of that giant ape, his life being sucked out of him. I looked at Preston who was looking to me and I grabbed his outstretched hand so that I would have some form of comfort.

Then, after an indistinct yell, Mr. Hayes was thrown across the canyon and hit a wall, then fell to bottoms of it.

Gun shots were being fired at the ape even by Preston who had taken his hand out of mine to shoot at it. The log started to shake and I fell down, grabbing a large branch to keep a hold on.

Then, the log gave such a jolt that I lost my grip and started to fall, but my fall was broken by a hand grabbing mine. I looked up and saw Preston holding on with his other hand to the log.

Then, the log was upturned, and it was sent falling, with a couple of bumps along the way, to the bottom of the canyon. Preston, however, managed to grab a couple of vines and swing us to the side of the canyon.

Unfortunately, something hit me hard on the head and that was when everything went black.


	20. Chapter 20

When I woke up, I was lying on cold, damp earth and there were men all around me. I lie up and saw that it was some of the crew and the captain. Captain Englehorn handed me a flask of water and I drank greedily until I realized that others needed the water more than I.

"Jessica?" someone called to me. I looked over and saw Preston leaning against a log. I walked over to him and sat down beside him. His face seemed to be clean of any injuries as did his arms. He looked worn out though.

"Are you alright?" I asked. He looked at me with weak eyes and smiled. "I think we're leaving, here let me help you along."

"No, it's ok," he said as he tried to get up. He took one step forward, and would have collapsed had I not caught him. Being taller than me, he was naturally heavier than I was, but he helped by slinging his arm around my shoulder, and I put my arm around his waist.

"After all the times that you have caught me," I said as we were making out way back through the jungle on our way back to the village, "I think that this will be enough repayment. Don't you?"

Preston and I looked at each other for a moment, then realizing that I was staring I looked away, blushing.

We continued walking like this, him supporting himself against me, behind Carl and the captain. Jack had not followed; he had gone on to find Ann. I only pray that he comes back with her alive.


	21. Chapter 21

We had finally reached the wall, and were back on the other side, the side that the village was on. Preston was finally walking right again, and he stood with me as the crew was busy transporting crates that were filled with large brown bottles from the ship. One fell onto the ground and stopped only a few feet away from me.

"Chloroform?" I whispered, fully aware that the stuff was illegal and shocked that so much of it was stored on the ship. 

"What?" Preston asked me.

"Preston," I said, turning to him, "they're going to use chloroform on that thing. I think…We can't let them do that. Carl's crazy if he plans on bringing that beast back with us."

Preston looked at me, then past me where Carl stood behind me giving orders.

"I don't know what we can do Jessica," he said.

"Preston, I just want Ann and Jack to come back, and I want to get off this island. Preston," this part I hugged myself against him and said into his chest, "I'm scared."

Preston put his arms around me and said, "I am too."

We stood there like that for a moment before Carl shouted, "Preston!"

Preston looked up at Carl and I stood back from Preston. He gave me a questioning look as if looking for approval, and in response I nodded. He left my side and went to go hear whatever it was Carl was telling him.

Five minutes later, Preston walked back to me and didn't say a word. Instead, he just watched a man that held a machete in his hand, ready to cut the rope that must pull the bridge up or let it down.

All was silent as soon as we heard the beast's mighty roar. Everyone was standing at the ready, waiting for the beast to come.

I could hear as Jack and Ann called to us from the other side of the bridge.

"Cut the bridge now, for Christ's sake," Preston begged Carl.

"Not yet," Carl said.

I was too stunned to say anything. Carl was using Ann and Jack as bait for that monster! They needed our help and he was just waiting for the beast to get closer?

"Wait…wait…wait," Carl said over and over. Preston took a step forward, but stopped.

_Please, Preston, have the guts to stand up to him! Even if it costs your job please save them!_

Preston finally yelled out in what seemed to be rage and yanked the machete from the crewman's hand. He cut the rope with one swipe, but the rope's whiplash caught his cheek and sent him reeling back in pain. I ran to his side and immediately saw the deep gash in his cheek. 

"Oh Preston," I said. I took the sleeve of his shirt and ripped it, making a kerchief from it. His hand was on the gash, but I put the kerchief up to the gash, forcing him to move his hand. The blood seeped into the kerchief, but I kept it there to hold the pressure.

Preston looked at me through his glasses and I smiled at him.

"I'm so proud of you," I said to him. He smiled back at me and took my free hand in his clean one.

"Jessica," I heard Ann call to me. Preston took the kerchief and I turned around, seeing my friend looking at me, distraught, terrified, and relieved. We rushed to each other and hugged.

"I'm so glad you're ok," I said after we had separated.

"I am too," she replied giving me the slightest smile. She left me to go back to Jack, and I went back to Preston, who was now standing.

"Come on," he said to me. "We need to get out of here." He grabbed my hand and led me behind Ann and Bruce, who was holding onto her as she thrashed about, trying to get free.

A roar behind us made us start running. My bare feet were getting cut up and I could feel the blood on them, but I didn't stop once. Preston's hand was tight around mine and he didn't let go even when he helped me into one of the lifeboats.

I watched, knowing I was powerless to do anything, as the beast came, as it smashed one of the life boats to smithereens, and it bit the head off of one of the crew. As Carl, in a desperate, yet successful, attempt to save his career, threw a bottle of chloroform at the beast, and then another, until the beast lay in the water, unconscious in sleep.

I didn't even pay attention as Carl said something. My mind was a blank. The events that had just unfolded before me seemed so unreal, like a nightmare, but I knew it was not.

Preston sat there beside me, hand up to his face, the other holding an oar now, and I could not look at him.


	22. Chapter 22

That night I sat in the boat's galley, waiting for Jack to finish making the coffee, with Carl, Jack, and Englehorn. The ape was down below being watched by all of us in shifts. Preston was down there now, and I was going to bring him a cup of coffee since he had the night shift.

"It's done," Carl said. "After all the dangers we went through, we've caught something the world has never seen before."

"And I wonder how we got into all of those dangers," I said.

"Look, we wouldn't have had to do all of that if Ms. Darrow--"

"Don't you dare blame Ann for this," both Jack and I said simultaneously.

"This is your entire fault, Carl Denham," I said. "Because of you, seventeen men are now dead. Because of you, we now have a dangerous ape asleep beneath us! How can you blame Ann for any of this?"

Jack handed me two mugs of coffee and I stormed out of the galley and down to the cargo holding area where the ape was being held in a giant cage. Preston was sitting on a blanket with a pillow behind his head and a gun beside him. A bottle of chloroform was beside the gun and I looked at it with disgust.

"Here," I said, handing Preston the mug. He took it and took a sip as I sank down to sit beside him.

"You don't have to stay here," Preston said. "Not that I don't mind…or, I mean that I don't want you to…well…"

"If you don't want me here just tell me," I said.

"No, I do want you here," he said. "I just am terrified that that thing is going to wake up any moment and it might…I don't know…get loose or something."

"I can't be with anyone else right now. Carl is up there acting like a pig-head; Ann is not talking to anyone, and Jack is doing the same. You're the only person I have left to talk to."

"So I'm sort of a last resort huh?"

"No, it's not that," I said. I then realized that he was making fun of me, and I smiled. I hadn't smiled since we were on that lifeboat, and it felt good, like none of this had ever happened.

"When we get back to New York," I said, "I want you to immediately see a doctor about that cut. It will get infected if you don't, then your face would become all nasty and gross."

"Would it be that bad?"

"I'd still come see you," I replied.

"Jessica…" Preston said. I looked up at him as he left it hanging. I was an idiot. Why would he still want to see me after all this? He's probably already in a relationship.

"I'm sorry," I said, quickly scooting away from him a bit. "I didn't realize that you wouldn't want to see me after this…even as friends."

"No! No, Jessica, it's not that at all. In fact, I do want to see you, but Carl…"

"What about Carl? Preston, you've become a really close friend to me. Why should Carl interfere with us seeing each other after this?"

"Carl has me do a lot of things. Unnecessary things, but things that he believes that need to be done. I'm afraid that this ape is going to become a bigger work load for me."

"Preston, just promise me you'll stay in touch with me and I'll be satisfied."

"I promise Jessica."

I gave a yawn and said, "I'm going to go on to bed."

I walked up into the moonlight and walked back to my cabin, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. _I hope that we can become more than friends._


	23. Chapter 23

The next morning, I woke up, changed, and silently crept out of the room so as not to wake Ann, who hadn't gotten to sleep until late into the night. She lay on her side and as I closed the door behind me, I saw that her face was tear-stained, red, and puffy. I wished that she would talk to me and not shut herself up in this room like she had been for the last couple of days.

"Jessica," someone behind me said. I turned around and shushed Jack, who looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep for weeks. I motioned him upstairs to the top deck and we silently went up.

"What is it Jack?" I said when we were safely uptop.

"I'm concerned about Ann," he said.

"So am I, but everything I've tried doesn't work. She won't talk to anyone."

"It's not that," Jack said. "It's…something else. When I rescued her from that ape, she wouldn't look away from it. It was like she was…connected to it somehow."

"I believe it's something along the lines of Stockholm syndrome. Now I'm not saying that she's fallen in love with that…thing, but I think that maybe she grew to somewhat care and understand it. I know it probably sounds crazy, but that is the only reason I can come up with for why on earth she would care about that thing."

Jack stood there looking at the door to Ann's and mine's room.

"Jack," I said putting a hand on Jack's arm, "if I were you, I would let her be for a while. I think she's having enough troubles as it is. Having you on her back about this would only make things worse for everyone."

Jack just nodded, muttered thanks, and walked away, probably back to the room he finally received after the ape was taken in.

I walked up onto the deck and saw Preston standing there as if waiting for me.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked him.

"A little," he said. "I had a lot on my mind."

"Like what? That Carl was going to send you to Africa to capture the world's largest lion or something?"

"Carl just needs to get his priorities straight, that's all," Preston said. He almost sounded defensive, which surprised me after everything we had been through together because of Carl Denham.

"Preston, why do you work for him?" I asked.

We looked at each other as I asked this and he seemed to be a little stand-offish about the question I asked. Finally he answered, "Carl has helped me throughout my life when no one else would. He gave me my first job. I owe a lot to him."

"So, it's pretty much repayment and loyalty that keep you with him," I said.

"Yep, that's the gist of it," he said. Preston turned to look out at the ocean.

"It's seems like a nightmare," I said randomly.

Preston seemed to understand what I meant, for he said in reply, "But it wasn't. It all really happened. And if we had made one wrong move…"

"We wouldn't be here," I finished for him.

"It's a scary thought."

"Very scary."

"Preston," Carl called to him. We both turned around and saw Carl standing behind us with a stern look on his face. "Preston, I need your help right away."

Preston looked at me, smiled apologetically, and followed Carl up to the captain's quarters like a lap dog. I must say that I was getting pretty frustrated with this little commander/slave routine.


	24. Chapter 24

Two weeks later, we docked back in New York, with police ready to arrest Mr. Denham and Preston, but after about an hour of negotiating with them, they left with an armed escort to who-knows-where. I grabbed my things and hailed a taxi for me and Ann to take.

"Ann," Jack called to her before we got in. She didn't even look at him. She just got in the cab and looked into space.

"I'm sorry, Jack," I said. I got in the cab after her, told the cabbie the address of Ann's flat, and sat in silence with her the whole ride there.

As we sat in that cab, silent, I had time to think of Preston's good-bye. We were watching Carl talk with the cops and I was waiting for Ann.

"So, this is it," I said. "We're going our separate ways now."

"Yes, I guess so," he said. He turned to me, and put a hand on my shoulder, about to say something important, I could tell. But then…

"Preston!" Carl shouted. "Get down here, we've got big business to attend to.

Preston looked down at me, deciding whether to go, or disobey orders. Finally, he let go of me and said, "Good-bye Jessica."

"Good-bye Preston," I said, half-heartedly. He walked down the gangplank and was gone into a black car with Carl, with one look back at me.

"That boy needs a backbone," Ann said behind me. It was the first words she had said to me since we left the island.

"I know…" I said.

Now, sitting in the cab with Ann, I knew that I would probably never see Preston again.


	25. Chapter 25

"Jessica, it's a flap-heel, not a shuffle-flap!" Tony, my director shouted for the umpteenth time. He finally got frustrated and shouted, "Alright everybody, let's take a ten- minute break."

I went to join Tony at the edge of the stage when the back door flew open. Tony turned around to the intruder and said, "We're closed!"

"I'm here to find a girl to star in my show," a voice I knew all too well said in reply.

"It can't be…" I said with disdain. A short, pudgy man in a nice suit came up to the edge of the stage where Tony and I were standing with a tall skinny man with glasses following.

"Well, well, well," Carl Denham said as he noticed me standing there. "If it isn't Ms. Summers. Haven't heard from you in a while. Doing some theater acting I see."

"Yes, I have," I said through clenched teeth. I then turned to Tony and said, "Tony, may I have a word with you please?"

I dragged Tony over to the far corner of the stage and whispered to him, "Tony, whatever this guy asks for, do not give it to him. The man is a crook, a liar, and a scoundrel. You know that little 'trip' I took a month ago? Yeah, he was the idiot in charge of it."

"I shall see what he wants," Tony said. He went back to Carl and Preston and got down off of the stage, talking with Carl the whole time. Preston looked at me and I looked at him, smiling. He immediately smiled in response.

"Done," I heard Tony say. He immediately went back stage, leaving me, Carl, and Preston alone in the stage area.

"So, I hear that your father has redeemed himself and created another masterpiece film," Carl said to make small-talk.

"Yes," I said. Dad had recently taken one his own camera's and gotten a couple of personal friends to cast and crew for the film. When it was complete, one of the friends brought it to the board and they deemed it worthy of the big screen. Dad had made loads off of the movie, and he now was considered a good director again.

"And what about you?" I asked. "What are you doing with that giant of ape of yours?"

"He's going to be the biggest attraction ever seen," Carl said. Preston looked a little disgusted when Carl said that. "I've already booked a night at the _Alhambra _for his unveiling. I sent a ticket to each person on the voyage, so you should be getting it any day now. Hope to see you there."

"I wouldn't go even if it was a free ticket," I said. "Carl, that thing is a danger to every one in New York, and you don't really seem to care. All that matters to you is the cash that this thing is bringing in."

Carl was about to say something in reply, but Tony came out saying, "Mr. Denham, I have four lovely ladies who are _perfect_ for what you are planning. If you will just follow me…"

Carl turned to Preston, said something to him, and followed Tony behind stage. We stood there in silence for a while. I finally walked down the side steps off of the stage and stood before Preston so that he had to look down at me.

"You never really said good-bye," I said. I could see that the gash on his cheek had been somewhat tended to for it was healing faster than it would have without a doctor's care. I gently put my hand up to the gash and stroked my hand along it.

"I did what you said," he said, never looking away from my eyes.

"Yeah, you did." I took my hand off of the gash and let fall to my side. "It's been so long since I've seen you. How've you been?"

"Busy," Preston said. "What with this Kong thing…"

"Kong?" I asked.

"That's what Carl is calling it. Anyway, I have been scheduling appearances for the beast, and tickets, and holding places…the list is almost endless. I…I looked you up in the address book, but I haven't had time to call."

"You weren't kidding then, were you?"

Preston shook his head and adjusted his glasses as they started to slide off of his nose. "I really did try. It's just that…well, every time I picked up the phone, Carl would come barging in, giving me something else to do."

"Well, Christmas is right coming up. Do you have any family you spend Christmas with?" Preston shook his head. "Well then, I know that you will be more than welcome to spend Christmas with my family. And besides, if Carl's made it big, he'll probably get an invitation to our annual Christmas party."

"I'd love to come," Preston said.

"Alright Preston," Carl said as he and Tony came from backstage together. "We're all set. Let's go. Thank you Mr. Harkman, and it was a pleasure to see you again Ms. Summers. Please do reconsider coming to the show. You'll regret missing it."

"Good-bye Preston," I said.

He smiled at me and said, "Good-bye Jessica."


	26. Chapter 26

I couldn't believe that I was actually going to this stupid thing. I had told myself weeks ago that I wasn't going to bother with it. Yet, here I was, wearing a purple evening gown, and on my way to the _Alhambra_. I had to be out of my mind.

When I arrived, I gave my ticket at the door and entered into the throng of people. Cameras were flashing all over the place and I could barely make my way into the building. When I got in I saw many people that I had met over the years from all of the parties my father had been invited to. There was the mayor, the senator, and the board for film directors.

My seat was on the balcony so I made my way up the stairs and out to my seat to await this so-called performance. After a few minutes I realized that I had to use the restroom so I got up and made my way to the restroom. By the time I got back, the lights were dimmed and I could see Carl on the stage with the beast in giant chains behind him. On the stairs in front of me, Jack was standing there, watching, along with Preston.

I made my way toward them and stood by Preston as I watched that idiot Bruce Baxter fool around on the stage.

"This is sick," I whispered. "I don't even know why I came."

Both men looked at me, but only Preston kept his gaze on me. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Then, we both turned to watch as out of the stage came a sort of platform where…Ann was standing! No, it wasn't Ann. I knew that as soon as the imposter screamed. It wasn't Ann.

"We need to get these people out of here," Jack said.

"Why?" I asked. Then I saw. The flashes from the cameras backstage were making the beast go nuts. People were stirring in their seats, obviously unsure of whether it was safe or not.

Then, the beast broke one arm out of the chains, and people were everywhere. I was lost in a throng of people, and I had to get in an empty aisle to not get run over.

"Jessica!" Preston shouted to me. He made his way through the stampede of people, took my hand in his, and dragged me out of the theater. He almost made it to the entrance, but then a great explosion above us caused us to be trapped on the remnants of the balcony. The lights went out and I fell on top of Preston, almost falling off of the edge of the broken balcony. Fortunately, Preston grabbed my hands and pulled me back up.

"Jessica, are you alright?" he asked, pulling me into his arms. His face was right beside mine so I could feel his warm breath.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said. I held on to Preston for dear life, and because it felt nice to be held by him in this way. I shook my head clear of that because right now those were the last thoughts I needed going through my head. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. You were right. This was a dangerous attempt that Carl tried. But its failure will cause the deaths of hundreds. And I was a part of it."

"Preston," I said, squeezing his hand with mine, "do not go banging yourself up for something Carl did. Now, let's see if we can find an exit."

Preston got up and helped me up, which meant he had to let go of me. Hand-in-hand, we made our way through rubble and debris, until Preston finally found an exit. It was dark in the rest of the building, so we had to make our way carefully through the building.

Preston stopped at a section where the floor had fallen, leaving a fifteen foot drop to the ground between us and the ground floor. He turned to me and said, "I'm going to jump down, then I'll catch you when you jump. Ok?"

I looked down and said with worry, "Preston, that's too high. What if…"

"Jessica, I'll be fine." He stood there for a moment, looking at me. Then, at the spur of the moment, he jumped down. I scrambled to see if he was ok, but all I could see in the darkness was his outline.

"Preston!" I shouted.

"I'm fine," he shouted back. "Go ahead and jump. I can see you fine."

I waited a moment, then closed my eyes, and jumped. The fall was short, and I landed with a _thump_ on Preston. He lay beneath me for a moment while I cleared my head. Then, I got up and helped him up.

"Nice landing," he said.

"Thanks," I replied. I looked past him and saw some light from the entrance of the building. "It looks like we're almost out. Do you think that that…beast is gone?"

"By now, yes," he replied. He once again took my hand in his and lead me toward the exit. I tripped once, but that was because there was a…body on the floor.

"Omigod," I whispered. The lobby had bodies hidden under the pieces of the ceiling that had crushed them. Here and there you could see an arm or a leg, and even a few decapitated heads. It was awful.

"Just don't look at it," Preston told me. I looked ahead, at the back of his head and as soon as we got outside I took a few deep breaths to clear my head.

"It's ok, Jessica," Preston said. He took me in his arms and I just silently cried into his chest, sorry for all of those innocent people.

"I just wish there was something I could do for them," I said in reply. I looked up at him and sniffed, trying to quit looking like a baby. I finally wiped the tears from my eyes and tried to look somewhat brave. "I need to go home, Preston. Could you…walk me home?"

"I'd do it even if you hadn't asked," he said. With his arm around my shoulder, we walked in the direction of my apartment. On the street we saw the cars that were turned over, the trolley that was on its side, the few people that were dead being taken away by a few ambulances, and finally, the army tanks that were rolling in the direction of the Empire State Building.

"Preston, I feel just like I did when we were on that island. I feel like I don't know whether we're going to live or die. It's awful. I don't know where Ann is, that beast is on the loose…why did this have to happen to us?"

"Because fate played us a nasty set of cards. There is one good thing out of all of this…I met you."

I smiled and replied, "And I met you."

We arrived at my apartment building and stood on the porch step just looking at each other.

"So…Christmas?" I asked.

"At the latest," he replied. He turned to leave, but I quickly grabbed his hand and turned him around. Quickly, I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He immediately turned red as a radish.

"Thanks," I said, letting his hand go. His hand went up to touch the spot where I kissed him, and he looked dumbfounded. I smiled at him, and went inside, with a warm, happy feeling inside.


	27. Chapter 27

Christmas was always the best time of year at the Summers' home. No matter what living situation we were in there would be festivities going on whether be with the family or with guests. I was looking forward to coming home for the holidays, but I was a little upset that Preston had not kept his promise.

The train arrived at the station located about fifty miles from Chicago, in my old hometown. A row of cabs were sitting outside the station, and as soon as I got my bags from the baggage claim I went out, where the cold met me with great force, and I quickly ran to the closest, and available cab. The driver helped me with my luggage, then while I got into the back passenger seat, he ran around to the drivers seat and started to drive.

"Where to miss?" In New York I had often missed the polite manner of even the cab drivers that was customary in my quaint little home town. After stating the address of my family's farm, I did not miss the amazed look I received from the man via the rear-view mirror, I looked out the window and watch the frozen fields go by and couldn't help but replay memories from my childhood in my head.

A time of pure innocence, when I didn't have to worry about whether my father's movies were going to bring in the money to provide, well, might I add, for our family of four. My childhood was spent growing up as a farm girl. It was a little odd in society's view, but I had grown up on the lesson to let society think what they wanted to think. If they wanted to think that a girl, whose father was a famous director, could not be a cowgirl, then they could think that. Back then I was free of self-consciousness and I didn't worry about the fact that I was constantly up to my neck in mud, or hay was constantly caught in my hair. But after my father hit rock-bottom on a movie that the critics ended up flunking, I was opened up to the cruel reality that was everyday life and the harsh words of unforgiving patrons. The world and their thoughts suddenly hit me like the Hoover Dam floodgates had just been opened unto me. In order to help my family, to help my father, I was going to have to sacrifice my shielded mind and go out into the harsh, unforgiving world.

That was what would always come to mind whenever I went to visit my family. It was purely unintentional, but my life was affected by so much, and it all started on this farm. I couldn't help thinking about the steady decline of my fantasy world here.

The cab finally pulled up to the end of the driveway and the cabbie kindly helped me get my luggage out. As soon as it was all unloaded I paid him and with a tip of his hat, he got back into the cab and drove off.

The place had not changed much. The driveway still looked long, the house still looked like something off a movie screen, and the whole scene looked like the home from my memories. I was ready to hear my mom call my brother and me for dinner after a day of skating on the thick ice that covered our summer-time swimming hole. I was ready for the smell of her home-made cooking to come through the screen door and make my mouth water like it did so long ago. I felt like I was home.

As I carried myself and my bags up the hilly driveway to the house, I noticed a sleek black car parked up at the top in front of dad's garage. It was too fancy to have come from town so it had to belong to someone from out of town. Who could it have belonged to?

I just reached the top of the hill when familiar barking welcomed me home. Yancy and Dale came pounding toward me from the back of the house and they nearly ran me over with their sheer size. Although somewhat old, our St. Bernard's never seemed to lose the energy and vigor they had as pups.

I was letting the dogs lick my hand when I heard a familiar, yet changed voice come through the screen door. "Ma! Pa! She's here!"

A boy, well, not a boy exactly, but a young man stepped through the screen door, off the porch, and into the yard to greet me. He was taller then I last remembered him, standing a little over six foot, with broad shoulders and toned arms. His face was sharper, and the baby fat he once wore was gone, but the same glint in his baby blues eyes was there, and his golden hair still fell just above his eyes. I could not believe that the young man standing before me was my baby brother.

"Oh my God, Tyler!" I left the two dogs and ran into my little brothers outstretched arms. He engulfed me in a huge bear hug and lifted me off my feet, swinging me in a circle before setting me down. I looked him up and down and just glared when he smiled gloatingly. "Don't be a show-off. I can see with my own two eyes how much you've grown. But you'll always be my baby brother."

"No way, Jess." Tyler glared at me before going to get my bags. "I'm no baby anymore. You're going to have a hard time beating me at wrestling anymore."

"I'll bet I could still take ya."

"Not in this house you won't." I looked up at the porch and saw Ma standing there, hands on her hips, apron around her waist, spoon in her hand, hair placed in a neat bun on top of her plump face, and a smile that brought out the wrinkles around her eyes.

"Ma!" I ran over to her and threw my arms around her. She held onto me tight and after a while I felt like I was suffocating. "Ma…I…need…to…breathe."

"Oh. Sorry dear." She let go of me and let me get my fill of air before pulling me into another hug. This one was quicker, however, and when she was done she held me at arms length from her and looked me over from head to toe. "My goodness, Jess. You look absolutely beautiful. A little thin, maybe, but beautiful nonetheless."

"Ma…stop!" I felt a blush start to rise in my cheeks, but it felt good in the cold. "Now, let's go in before I freeze. I may live in the Big Apple, but I still can't stand the cold!"

Ma and Tyler followed me into the house and Tyler immediately headed up the stairs to go deposit my bags in my room. Ma made her way to the back of the house where the kitchen was and immediately returned to cooking whatever it was that smelled so good.

I looked around the kitchen, it was a simple one with the basic necessities and a few modern accessories, and realized that the kitchen table was gone. The space where it had once sat was now empty, and there were imprints in the wood where the table had sat, untouched, for twenty-seven years, since my parents were married.

But I would ask Ma about that later. I had other things on my mind.

"Ma," I said, "where's Pa?"

She continued to cook and didn't even turn to look at me when she replied. "In the theater. Two men are in there talking to him about something. I think they want to purchase that theater in New York."

I looked at Ma, shocked. Dad couldn't sell that theater. He had always promised that someday it was going to go to "Pa's star" AKA me. Every time I came home, even at the age of twenty-one, I would ask Pa, "Pa, when am I finally going to get that theater?" And he would always answer, "When I'm good and ready to give it to ya!" It was ridiculous, but it was custom. And no way was I going to let Pa sell it.

I made my way back out the kitchen and into the hallway that connected it the entryway and entered a door mid-way down the hall. The room was dark save for the movie that rolling onto the giant screen that covered the wall. I recognized it immediately as one of Pa's old home videos of me when I was seven. In this particular film, I was practicing my ballet while a little blonde girl next to me was practicing tap-that had to be Ann.

In the front row of the home-theater sat three men. The one in the middle had thinning hair in the back and I knew that that was Pa. The other two, much to my surprise, and disgust/delight, I also recognized. The one to my father's left was none other than Carl Denham (he caused the disgust feeling). The one on my father's right was Preston (he caused the delight feeling). Carl was talking to my father and showing him a bunch of papers. My father held in both of his hands stacks of paper for who knows what. Preston sat there, looking slightly nervous about the whole situation. I decided it was time to swoop in and rescue my father.

"Pa!" I shouted so as get there attention above Carl's voice and the whir of the machines in the room. I ran up the front and leaned down to give my father a hug. He smiled, a smile of relief I noticed, and lifted my chain to appraise me.

"Definitely could have been a movie star," he muttered. His New Yorker accent was deep on the "could." "But no! She decided to go into theater. What do I keep tellin' ya?"

"'There ain't no money in theater,'" I quoted my dad, imitating his New Yorker accent. He gave me a wily look then kissed me on both cheeks.

I finally looked at the two men sitting on both sides of my father and acknowledged their presence. "Hello Carl, Preston. Carl, I hope you're seriously not thinking about trying to buy that theater from my dad, because if you try," and here I got into his face, "I will kill you." Then I straightened up and looked at Preston and said in the kindest voice I could offer, "Hi Preston. Glad to see you kept your promise."

He gave me a smile that hit my heart like cupid's arrow and said, "I try to keep my promises."

"Ah, Jess," my father said looking awfully pleased, "you know these two kind men?"

"To my misfortune, yes," I said. I saw that Preston looked a little hurt, so I gave him a friendly smile and a quick wink to go with it. At home, I could be an entirely different person.

"What misfortune?" Pa asked. "This young man right here," he threw an arm is around Carl's shoulder with pride, "is a film director, as I'm sure you know. He says that he's studied all of my films and uses them to critique his movies. Ain't that swell?"

"Pa, I'm sure that's great, but do your remember that guy I told you about that got the whole idea of going to some uncharted island, and we ended up with that giant ape that caused so much trouble for us back in New York?" He nodded innocently. "Same guy."

My father looked at Carl and simply said, "Next time, use Fiji; it doesn't have any giant apes."

I looked at my father, disappointed that my father hadn't immediately rushed into how Carl had threatened the life of his one and only precious daughter and hadn't kicked him out. So much for that plan.

"Preston," I said, turning my attention back to my new feeling of joy, "would come help me get some firewood from the barn? I want to start a fire before dinner."

He smiled and quickly jumped out of his seat and nodded. I shyly looked away from his bold, for once, intent gaze, and led him out the front door and down the path toward the barn.


	28. Chapter 28

We walked side-by-side in silence for a while

We walked side-by-side in silence for a while. I finally gathered up the courage and asked, "How long will you be staying?"

Preston looked at me through his glasses and said, "Your father invited us for dinner. I guess we leave after that, but Carl and I are staying in town for your father's Christmas party."

My excitement rose in my chest. I was going to actually get to see more Preston. It was enough to make me make a mental note to find out where Ma was planning on hiding the mistletoe this year.

"Well, we could use a little help decorating the tree," I said. "If you wanted to that is."

Preston smiled and asked, "Are you extending an invitation to help with your tree decorating?"

"Maybe."

Preston turned to me, gave a little bow, and said, "I would be honored."

As we continued to walk to the barn I commented on his strange change in behavior. Not that I didn't like it. In fact, it was nice. It was just different.

"I'm just so glad to be taking a brake and not be doing so much work. And I'm also glad to see you. I wasn't sure if you were going be here when we arrived, so when you weren't here, I was a little disappointed. But when you showed up in there, greeting your father like that, I was so happy."

Another blush rose up into my cheeks and as much as I didn't want Preston to see it, I knew he had by the smile that lingered on his lips. This was a new side of Preston that I had never seen. The shy, sensitive side was still there though. It would never leave him, I was sure of it.

"So, what did you and Carl do after... well, you know." The look that covered his face was somber. He looked like this was a subject he had hoped to avoid.

Finally, he took a deep breath, and said, "It was hard. I mean, we got tons of publicity from the whole thing, and Carl was offered a position back as a director, but there were also charges pressed. If the director's guild had not stepped in, Carl and I would have been facing about fifty to life."

No way! They couldn't press charges against Preston. He was only doing as he was told. I mean, it was his JOB! He didn't know what could happen…it just wasn't fair! But, he wasn't in jail, at least. He was here, walking with me.

I placed a hand on his arm and smiled at him softly. He smiled weakly back. I could see the Preston I knew in that smile, and I just wanted to stop right there and…no. That would have been too forward, and as outgoing as I was, I wasn't the type of girl to throw myself at a guy.

Finally, in the distance, I saw the red wood and white roof of the barn. Kind of an inconvenient place to put it, so far from the house, but I didn't mind taking the long trek. The smell of horse doo-dee and hay wafted from the barn and I was taken back to my childhood days when I would practice my dancing in the loft to the gram-o-phone, and when Tyler and I would go hang out in the barn when there was nothing to do.

A rush of adrenaline suddenly caused me to run through the remaining field and into the barn. I went past all of the stalls, stopping at the stall of my pride and joy, Teddy. The chestnut and white spotted mare was a beauty, and she stood prouder than ever. I opened the stall gate and entered the stall, making sure to approach her from the side, petting her back lightly, and working my way up to her man. She whinnied at me, and bumped her nuzzle against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her nuzzle, holding her against my chest as the tears fell. I had missed Teddy.

"Jessica!" I heard Preston call out. "Where are you?"

I smiled at Teddy and winked, as if she could understand me. "I'm in the back stall," I called out. "Come see!" I waited for Preston diligently, retrieving Teddy's comb while he searched every stall for me.

"Whoa," he said when he finally came upon the correct stall. I turned to look at him, smiling, and beckoned him forward. Surprisingly, he walked up beside Teddy perfectly, not moving too fast as to scare her. He lightly reached out and pet her mane. "She's beautiful," he said.

"I know. I missed her so much. She and I go way back." I then turned my face to Teddy and whispered in her, "This is Preston, Teddy. Say hello."

Teddy pawed her hoof once against the ground in greeting, then neighed loudly. A sign of approval. I smiled at my horse, hugged her once more, then exited the stall with Preston behind me.

"So, firewood," I said once the stall was shut. I turned around and around until I spotted the pile of wood in a pile along the wall. I pointed to it, stating, "There. Just grab three to four logs each." Swiftly, I went over and picked up three big logs while Preston picked up four. Show-off.

"Back to the house?" he asked once we were outside.

"Back to the house." I smiled as I walked toward the house, overjoyed to be reunited with the man I was pretty sure I liked as more than just a friend.


End file.
